Grant expels Jews from war zone Dec. 17, 1862

On this day in 1862, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) issued an order during the Civil War expelling Jews from a large region occupied by the Union Army.

At the time, Grant commanded the military’s administrative department of Tennessee, comprised of the states of Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi. Having assumed charge of trading licenses, Grant accused region’s Jewish community of illegally trading in black-market cotton.

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A handful of the illegal traders were Jews, although most were not.

Nonetheless, Grant’s order required all Jews to leave the region within 24 hours or face imprisonment. Union officers quickly began to force entire Jewish families out of their homes with only what they could carry.

Grant came under the influence of Henry Halleck, the Union armies’ general-in-chief, who directly linked “traitors” with “Jew peddlers.” At one point, Grant castigated “the Israelites” as “an intolerable nuisance.”

According to the American Jewish Historical Society, President Abraham Lincoln knew nothing about Grant’s order and voiced surprise when Jewish leaders met with him to protest Grant’s decree. He ordered Grant to revoke the order, which the general did three days later.

Lincoln later told the Jewish representatives that “to condemn a class is, to say the least, to wrong the good with the bad.”

He promised to not only rid the country of slavery – he had recently issued the Emancipation Proclamation – but also to protect Americans from religious discrimination.

He drew no distinction between Jew and Gentile, the president said. He would allow not allow any American to suffer due to his religious affiliation.

Grant’s reputation survived the episode. After the fighting ended, many Americans viewed Grant as a war hero. In the presidential election of 1868, Grant won a majority of the Jewish vote. In the White House, he named several Jews to high governmental posts.